I’ve taken a few vacation days this year to have some time before Christmas to indulge in all the holiday business in a slower and more manageable manner. With the tree behind me and all the lights up on the house I’ve been focusing on last minute gifts. I don’t want to share too much about that in case Kim should read this before the magic morning.
Yesterday morning it was sunny and 27° F, perfect weather to take the scooter out for a few errands. I really did have good intentions to take care of some business but the road has a way of drawing out the wanderlust in me and I had to take a few detours. I sort of rationalized that I might find an antique store in one of the rural communities I could ride through but when I turned off the paved road to follow a dirt road up on to the mountain I knew I was just having fun. The bright sun, cold clear air and the fragrance of conifers made the slow ride up the mountain a dream.
I should add here that this was also the first test of Kim’s Christmas present to me — a MotoFizz seat bag just recently arrived from AeroStich.
I opted for the folding rear rack on the Vespa rather than the hard topcase. But there are times when I want to have a little extra protected storage space and after a long search decided on this one. And Kim checked the naughty and nice list twice and determined I should have it. I first saw these bags on the Adventure Rider site and it seems perfect. This is the small version and has plenty of space for camera, windbreaker, gloves, thermos, and other odds and ends. Tiny compared to some of the saddlebags and hard cases I see on motorcycles but for the simple minded (that doesn’t sound right) it is perfect. There is a good review of the bags by Bob Stokard of City Bike — READ THE REVIEW OF MOTOFIZZ BAGS
Riding over the mountain and back down the other side I decided to take a route I had never visited on the scooter. I remembered this part of the valley as isolated and a place where failed farms had been absorbed back into meadows and woods. As I rode along it didn’t take long to see a different transition in progress — meadows and woods turning into homes, small estates and gentleman farms. One in particular had hundreds of acres of empty pasture fenced with 12-foot high fences. Seems this particular place had elk.
I only saw three in the whole place but the land did run over a ridge so there could have been hundreds somewhere I suppose.
This trend remained the rest of the ride. The sprawl of development just keeps growing and growing. As the roads get wider, smoother and straighter the easy of commuting makes homebuilding in more distance places palatable I suppose. There is still a lot of rural space around though and it makes scooting in the sticks a lot of fun!
Brian says
Hi Steve-
My first time leaving a comment.
I’ve been reading since the start and just wanted to thank you for continuing to post. I read these during my breaks at work and it’s a nice way to relax, even though I’m still at work.
Thanks again.
-brian
Patti W. says
Hi Steve,
Mom gave me your blog address today and I just read “Pre-Christmas Wandering” and I have to say that we never brought a tree home on the back of our Harley, but it might be worth a try. Rich went out riding Wednesday. Alas, your cousin is a sissy (to cold for me). Looking forward to reading the rest of your postings.
Hope to see you soon.
Biker Betty says
That sounded like a very nice “wandering” to me. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Steve Williams says
brian: Glad you decided to reveal yourself! What are you riding?
Patti: It took me a moment to process your comment and figure who you were. You are the first relative to post here or even look at this. I think George might know about it too but I’m not sure. He and Donna have a Harley too. I guess I’ve broken whatever family tradtion there might be. I did my Harley riding back in the early 1970’s. I plan to ride over to Akron sometime to visit my dad’s grave and thought of swinging by to see your mom. If I do I’ll make sure I stop and see you and Rich too!
biker betty: I’m happy with whatever ride I can manage. Any errand, any trip is a gift. Hope you are managing the snow OK. At least you’ll have a white Christmas!